Revealed: Winners at the Gulf Business Awards 2017

The prestigious annual Gulf Business Awards took place in a dazzling ceremony on Sunday evening at Fairmont The Palm hotel in Dubai, with some of the region’s top business executives in attendance.

The sixth edition of the event saw a total of 27 awards given away during the evening.

The awards – judged by an independent panel and public voting – sought to celebrate excellence in the corporate world and recognised companies and business leaders across nine industries. Awards were also given to across other special categories to recognise innovation and CSR.

For his enormous achievements and ceaseless contributions to the growth of the UAE – especially in aviation, the esteemed Lifetime Achievement Award for 2017 was awarded to HH Sheikh Ahmed bin Saeed al Maktoum, president of the Dubai Civil Aviation Authority; chairman and CEO of Emirates Group;  and chairman of Dubai Supreme Fiscal Committee, Dubai Airports and Emirates NBD.

The coveted Gulf Business Company of the Year award was won by local company DarkMatter, while the recipient of the 2017 Business Leader of the Year award was HE Abdul Aziz Al Ghurair, CEO of Mashreq Bank.

This year also saw the introduction of the Happiness and Positivity company of the year award – which was bagged by DHL Express.

The judging panel included: Dr. Amina Al Rustamani, group CEO of Tecom Group; Arif Naqvi, founder and group CEO of The Abraaj Group; Mark Beer OBE, CEO of DIFC’s Dispute Resolution Authority; Ian Fairservice, Motivate managing partner and group editor-in-chief; and Neil King, editor of Gulf Business.

The evening was hosted by Motivate Publishing in association with headline sponsor King’s College Hospital London and category sponsors: Samsonite, Jacobsons Direct, Shapoorji Pallonji and Strathclyde.

Don’t miss: In pics: Gulf Business Awards 2017 – Companies of the year

In pics: Gulf Business Awards 2017 – Business leaders of the year

In pics: Gulf Business Awards 2017 – Special category winners

COMPLETE LIST OF WINNERS

Lifetime Achievement Award: HH Sheikh Ahmed bin Saeed Al Maktoum, president of the Dubai Civil Aviation Authority; chairman and CEO of Emirates Group; chairman of Dubai Supreme Fiscal Committee, Dubai Airports and Emirates NBD

Gulf Business Company of the year: DarkMatter

Gulf Business Business Leader of the Year: HE Abdul Aziz Al Ghurair, CEO of Mashreq Bank

Companies of the year

Energy

Masdar

Tourism and hospitality

Ras Al Khaimah Tourism Development Authority

Aviation and transport

Dubai Airports

Banking

Emirates NBD

Technology

DarkMatter

Media and marketing

OSN

Healthcare

Aster DM Healthcare

Real estate 

Danube

Retail

Souq.com

Business leaders of the year

Energy

Mohamed Jameel Al Ramahi, CEO of Masdar

Tourism and hospitality

HE Helal Saeed Al Marri, director general of Dubai’s Department of Tourism and Commerce Marketing

Aviation and transport

Magnus Olsson and Mudassir Sheikha, co-founders of Careem

Banking

HE Abdul Aziz Al Ghurair, CEO of Mashreq

Technology

Faisal Al Bannai, founder and CEO of DarkMatter

Media and marketing

Sam Barnett, CEO of MBC Group

Healthcare

David Hadley, CEO of Mediclinic Middle East

Real estate

HE Mohamed Alabbar, chairman of Emaar

Retail

Colm McLoughlin, executive vice chairman and CEO of Dubai Duty Free

Special categories

Businesswoman of the year

Sima Ved, founder and vice chairperson of Apparel Group

Innovator of the year

HUB1006

SME of the year

NOW Money

CSR initiative of the year(public vote)

Daman – ActiveLife

Entrepreneur of the year (public vote)

Nayla Al Khaja, D-Seven / The Scene

Happiness & Positivity Company of the Year

DHL Express